The following with take effect immediately, All Minor to Junior Club Systems are no longer in effect as determined by Hockey Canada.
 This takes effect immediately and Junior teams do not hold any rights of any protection to release minor players.  The term Club System has been removed from Hockey Canada Playing regulations for the 20182019 season.
Tryouts / Spring Camps
 No minor player attending a Junior Camp will require a permission to skate (PTS) from a Junior team.  Minor players will only require a PTS from his previous registered minor team if he has eligibility remaining.  Junior Players protected from the previous season will require a PTS should they be attending a tryout in the same or lower category.
Releases
 Junior Teams will not hold any rights to minor players seeking to play Junior hockey. No fees can be collected for these players.  Releases are not permitted or required to be obtained from any Junior team previously in a Club systems. Those Junior teams trying to obtain releases or seen to be misguiding players in this manner will be subject to sanctions by the OHA and possibly the OHF and Hockey Canada.
Affiliation
 Junior Teams will no longer have the option of the Minor CLUB or TEAM to TEAM affiliation.  All Junior teams will be permitted to the AFFILIATE AT LARGE process only. (This information will available in the OHA Members Section of the OHA website prior to the start of the 18-19 season.)  Junior Teams are reminded that there is NO PROTECTIVE RIGHTS to an Affiliate player in the following season.
Please ensure this information is passed onto your General Manager and Hockey Operations staff.

The below information is to assist teams in with the upcoming spring try out and registration period and provide details and clarification:
Rationale of Change:
Hockey Canada has undertaken the change as the multiple concepts of affiliation available caused confusion for the Player as to his rights and that the purpose of affiliation was to ensure a Team could participate with a full roster not to utilize the process to retain player rights. Further, the concept of Club System that was being applied was not operating in the true spirit of the regulation which created further confusion. One example of non-compliance was the one set of signing officers for all Teams in the Club meaning if the Player was released from the Minor Team he was released from the Club (both Minor and Junior). In most instances this was not occurring it was separate releases for Minor and Junior from separate signing officers.
The change eliminates the confusion and creates a Player first policy through providing choice for a Player when transition from Minor to Junior versus being inhibited due to Residency Regulations in Minor dictating his ability to tryout beyond his residency at Junior

Some Jr GMs at all levels are not very happy with this change, however it is a Hockey Canada mandate and the OHA like all member partners has no choice in the matter. This could explain the increased number of early signings of players coming out of minor hockey since they are all free agents now and territorial rights have been eliminated.

Some clubs used to do club to club affiliations with their local AAA association giving them exclusive signing rights to upwards of 30 prospects each year from September through spring camps.